


Heavy Breathing

by Rod



Series: Parallel Lines [22]
Category: Veritas: The Quest
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-09
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 22:36:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/790972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rod/pseuds/Rod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nikko gets his revenge on Cal.  With meditation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heavy Breathing

Cal looks at Nikko suspiciously. "You're just getting even with me for all the medical tests, aren't you?"

Truth be told, Nikko has a lot to get even for, although hopefully he has no idea of the half of it. Cal was surprised that Nikko hadn't called him on taking longer than he should have putting the sensors on, but once he'd been presented with all that bare Nikko-skin, Cal had been lost. Hell, even when they had got as far as the tests, all it took was for Cal to look up and see Nikko there half naked and whatever train of thought he might have had was utterly derailed. He'd taken refuge in playing the stern, dispassionate scientist, but it hadn't worked so well and had pissed off Nikko no end.

So here they are, and if Cal rules in the lab (subject to Maggie and Dr Zond, of course), Vincent's dojo is very much Nikko's playground. This is bad on so very many levels, and Cal has no idea how Nikko managed to talk him into this.

Nikko grins, doing Cal's confidence no good whatsoever. "Maybe just a little," he says. "Seriously, this might help you."

"Help me what? Fall over in a heap so you can laugh some more? No thanks, Nikko."

"Help you understand what's going on with your body," Nikko tells him, and Cal is surprised by his sudden seriousness. It would give him a warm and comforting feeling that Nikko actually cared about his well-being, but Cal doesn't allow himself that. That's dangerous territory, because Cal wants Nikko to care much more than he actually does.

"Sit," Nikko says in tones that he's clearly learned from Vincent. "Get yourself comfortable, because you're going to be sat that way for a while."

Cal sits cross-legged on the mat, grumbling about pushy teenagers. To his surprise Nikko doesn't join him, but squats in front of him to adjust his posture. "Hey!"

Nikko ignores him, poking and prodding until Cal is seated in an approved manner. "Your assignment for today," he says with a grin, openly mocking Cal's last attempt to tutor him, "is to learn about breathing. Trust me, that's going to be hard enough without your knees getting sore." There's a flash of that smile that Cal finds so hard to resist, then Nikko's all business again.

"I think I know how to breath," Cal snarks to cover his feelings. "I've been doing it for a few years now."

"That's what I told Vincent. It didn't do me any good either. Now..." Nikko stands upright, taking a step or two back from Cal. "Close your eyes and try to relax. I want you to take a deep breath in through your nose. Pay attention to how the air flows into you, filling your lungs up from the bottom. Now let it out, nice and slow. Feel the air flowing out of you, smooth and soft. Now in again, slowly. Watch it fill you..."

Nikko's words are getting hypnotic, which is probably the idea. Cal does his best to ignore that, to ignore the way that Nikko is slowly pacing around him, and instead concentrates on his breathing like Nikko told him.

It is hard work, he realises. Biology isn't his strong suit, but he still knows enough to imagine his lungs expanding, allowing the air to flood down to alveoli that will greedily swap oxygen for carbon dioxide. He can almost see it, almost feel the life-giving molecules passing through the cell walls and on into his body.

A small part of Cal notices that Nikko is talking about something different now, about feeling his breath pass on through his body. Without even thinking about it, Cal follows the oxygen bound into his haemoglobin as it hurtles around his body. For a long dizzy moment he is thrown by the sheer speed of his bloodstream, his heart rate increasing and making the ride even wilder, but Nikko's voice grounds him, calming him until he stops trying to follow individual molecules and instead watches the flow.

It's not like he's actually seeing anything, the quiet, rational voice that's constantly at the back of his mind notes. He's just seeing the view from his own cells because he has his eyes closed, so there are no conflicting visual images to override his imagination. He has no eyes at that microscopic level, and while he does have nerves they don't sense what's going on in his body like that. They don't let him see a squad of white blood cells homing in on some invading bacteria as if he was there directing their flight personally. They don't let him feel the flow of blood through every bit of his body, feel it nourishing each and every cell. They don't let him know the little tweaks that need to be done so that each cell is doing what he needs it to do. That's all just his imagination.

What's not his imagination, he's absolutely certain, is that he knows exactly where Nikko is at all times. He's entirely lost the thread of what Nikko is saying, but even with his eyes closed he can track Nikko as he circles around him. He is fully aware of it when Nikko moves closer, the radius of his orbit decreasing slowly as Nikko thinks he's sinking into a trance state. He is terrifyingly alert as Nikko lowers himself to the mat behind him, not even thinking to ask how he can know beyond question that the movement was a graceful interplay of muscles when he can't see those muscles underneath Nikko's loose workout clothes, never mind that Nikko is behind him and he has his eyes closed. His universe contracts to the fact that Nikko is mere inches behind him, leaning forward so that Cal can feel his breath on his ear, and if he leans back just so then that beautiful body will be pressed up against him, and...

Cal's eyes fly open. "This isn't working," he manages to croak over the welter of images he is trying really hard not to think. He is briefly grateful that Nikko made him fold his hands in his lap like some Buddhist monk, making his raging hard-on much less obvious.

"It was working just fine until you tensed up," Nikko snaps back peevishly. "What did you do that for?"

"What did I do what for?" At least Nikko has stood back up, Cal thinks. That puts the would-be sensei back into Cal's view and a safe distance away, and just maybe Cal will be able to slow his racing heart back down now.

"You're not getting out of this that easily," Nikko tells him, and Cal is a little surprised not to see a smug grin at turning the tables on him. Nikko is serious about this.

Cal doesn't bother to hide his groan, knowing how it will be misinterpreted. This is going to be a long, hard session, and he really wishes he hadn't just thought that pun.


End file.
